Sounding-post



(No Model.)

F. WEBER. SOUNDING POST SETTER FOR STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. No. 455,822. Patented July 14,1891.

WITNESS s;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK IVEBER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SOUNDlNG-POST SETTER FOR STRlNGED INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,822, dated July 14, 1891.

Application filed October 23, 1890. Serial No. 369,035. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, FREDERICK WEBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Phila delphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sounding- Post Setters for String Instruments; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specifica tion.

My invention relates to a kind of tongs for Setting the sounding-posts in string instruments, as bass violins, violoncellos, violas, and violins.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents the front View of the sounding-post setter opened; Fig. 2, the side view of the same; Fig. 3, the front view of the same closed; Fig. at, a front view of the head of tongs with sounding-post in section seized by the prongs; Fig. 5, the same with sounding-post in section seized and held by the segments of the collar.

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The instrument, made of steel or some other adequate material, consists of two equal arms shaped as shown on accompanying drawings and bent as shown in Fig. 2. The head A contains the points or prongs o. a, the collar or segments 1) b, and the shoulders c c, which prevent the points a u from injuring each other. Between the head A and the pivot or rivet B is the scale (I d.

O C are the handles.

The two parts of the head A are bent in such a way as to form one even surface from the lower part of the shoulders c c to the end of the head beyond the prongs (z a, so that the inner faces of the shoulders c c and the points of the prongs a a meet.

The tongs have their narrowest part about midway between the head A and pivot B, i" or the purpose of allowing sufficient shifting and moving in the sounding-hole of the string instrument.

The sounding-post setter will be made in various sizes suiting the various kinds of string instruments.

The use of the sounding-post setter is the following: lVhen a sounding-post c has to be set in a string instrument, it is seized by the prongs or points a a, as shown in Fig. at. The sounding-post 6 can swing between the points (L a, and may consequently easily be inserted into the string instrument, through the sound ing-hole, and temporarily secured in place between the top and back of the instrument. Then the tongs are opened and the soundingpost seized between the segments 1) b, as shown in Fig. 5. The radius of the segment I) l) of the collar being slightly larger than that of the sounding-post, the latter may be held very firm without being injured by the points a (L or the shoulders c c. It is now easy to secure the sounding-post in the desired position by alternately seizing the same at the top and the bottom and adjusting the ends at the desired place till it stands firm. The scale (Z (I has the purpose of facilitating the temporary and definitesccuring of the sounding-posts. The scale reads inches or any other measure from the center of the sounding-post, and the distance of the latter from the inner edge of the sounding-hole can be determined by the scale. The pointf at the lower end of one of the handles has the purpose of allowing to extract or insert the sounding-postwhenever the use of the prongs might be inadvisable or unh an d y.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A sounding-post setter consisting of a pair of tongs provided with two points or prongs at the bit end and a collar formed of two seg ments behind the prongs for seizing and holding a sounding-post of a string instrument and securing it in place, a scale on one or both arms of the tongs for determining the position of the sounding-post in the string instrument, and a point at the back of one or both handles for seizing the sounding-post of a string instrument, all substantially as set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I a'tlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK WEBER. Witnesses:

(/I-IAS. RIPKA, CARL KAUSCHE. 

